Clutter, clutter, everywhere

Okay, so when we bought our 1650sqft. house, it was just Blair and I and we had lots of room. Now, 5 years and 2 kids later, our house seems so small and I feel like I'm drowning in clutter. The front room has a train table and bigger toys like the Fisher-Price farm, house, rock quarry and garage; and those are just Nicholas' We also right now have boxes of clothes to down into the crawl space, pictures and art to be hung and baby gifts to be delivered...all in that front room. The kitchen/great room is no better, with "junk" (stuff that has no proper place) all over the counters, papers to be shredded, recycled and did I mention that the dining room table has become the dumping ground for newspapers, kids shoes and slippers, hats and more stuff to be shredded or recycled? We have a book shelf that is supposed to be for our books, a phone and the stereo, but is once again cluttered with "stuff" that needs to be out of reach of the little hands. In the great room/family room, where we spend most of our time has Claire's toys, a second book shelf for DVD's and Nicholas' books, a toy box in a small alcove and you guessed it, all of it full of "stuff". Behind our big t.v. is more stuff to keep out of reach of little hands.

Arggh, I just feel like everywhere I look, there is stuff that needs to find a home or be tossed. Now, I'm not blaming anyone, those of you who know me, know that Blair is a great help around the house and does more than his fair share of cleaning. It just seems as though we can't keep on top of this clutter. It doesn't help that I have new house fever and would love a bigger house where, in my mind, we would be forced to organize our "stuff". In a bigger house, we'd have a room for the toys and they wouldn't be EVERYWHERE! Unfortunately for me, we're not in a position to move for another year or so, which means, in order to remain sane, I've got to get a handle on this clutter.

Deep breath....Okay, that's my rant for the day. Now back to the clutter

The time has come....returning to work

So, the day has finally come....maternity leave is over and I am returning to work. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, because I really like being home with my kids, taking them to Strong Start and doing my fitness classes, but EI really doesn't pay much and we need the income. Right now, I'm trying the wrap my mind around how I'm going to get up early, get both kids dressed, fed and out the door to daycare and me to work. Of course, Blair will help me and Claire can go in her pajamas and both kids can eat breakfast at daycare, but still. I'm sure that, like when I went back to work after Nicholas, I'll get into a routine and it'll become automatic, but for right now, it's overwhelming. I look forward to only working 3 days a week and only for 3 and a half months (until the school year ends) and the increase in income too.

So, here I go, preparing for a return to work.

Four Years Ago

Four years ago today, I got married. Amidst threats of snow and frosty weather, we prepared to get married at the Newlands gazebo with no back up plan. Happily, the sun came out and while it was chilly enough for the guests to need long sleeves or jackets, I wore my strapless dress and had the wedding that I had hoped for. I stood at the end of the aisle, looking down at Blair, so handsome in his tux, tears in his eyes and saw my future.

Now, four years later, I still remember that day and how I felt. In four years, Blair and I have made our life together, bought a house and are raising our family. And I still look at Blair, holding one or both of our children, even more handsome and I see my future, best friend and my love. Happy Anniversary, my love.

My baby girl is 1

Today, my daughter, Claire turns 1. She has been in our life for a whole year and its so hard to believe that its been 1 year. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were at the hospital with a new, dark-haired, blue eyed baby girl. She was so tiny and helpless, dependent on us for everything. Now, a year later, she's moving around on her own, discovering her world, feeding herself, chatting up a storm and watching her brother's every move. I can't wait to see how she will grow and learn, but a part of me is still sad to see my new, tiny baby girl, growing up. Happy Birthday to you, my sweet baby girl. I love you.

On My Own

I admit that I am very fortunate to be married to Blair. He does a lot around the house and with the children. Funny enough, he doesn't see himself as special, he believes that he's just doing what he's supposed to as a parent.

Well, this week, he went to Calgary for a business conference, leaving me alone for three days with the children. For me, this is a HUGE deal, (again I am lucky)because we have never been apart. So, not only am I home alone with the children, I'm missing my best friend and bed buddy. Aside from trying to explain to Nicholas why Daddy isn't home for supper or bath time, I'm tearing up every time I talk to Blair on the phone. (MAJOR SUCK, I know). Now, I know a lot of people whose husbands go away and they manage quite nicely and I'm sure that they think that I am being ridiculous and maybe they are right, but it's how I feel.

Anyway, things were going fine, I got the kids bathed and fed, each night, and did my usual chores. I even managed to go to work for half a day to prep for my return after Spring Break. Then, it happened. On the day that Blair is to return home, a mini- emergency happened. I was putting the kids to bed for a nap and as I closed Claire's door, a large picture frame that we had leaning against the wall, fell against the door, wedging it shut. I had trapped my baby in her room, with no idea on how to get her out. Normally, I would call Blair at work and have him come home to solve the problem, but with him away, it was up to me to fix it. I tried pushing on the door to try and get out open, tried shoving things under it to push the frame out of the way, no luck . I called my Dad to see what he would suggest, but there was no answer. I called my uncle who's here visiting and also handy to see if he could help. He and his family stopped by on their way downtown for Olympic fun to see what he could do. No luck. So, I called the non-emergency fire number hoping that they could open the door without breaking the door and, in Nicholas' words "to rescue Clairey." Three great guys showed up in their fire engine and after some trouble shooting, and chatting with Nicholas (who thinks everyone comes to our house to see him), they got the door open. What a relief :) And, Claire remained asleep through the whole thing....that's my girl. Before they left, the fire fighters invited Nicholas to see inside their fire truck, giving him stickers, a pencil and some magnets. "I never beed in a fire truck a fore" Smiled Nicholas as he waved good bye to fire fighters. It made his day.

What a day! I'm really looking forward to Blair coming home tonight and hoping it's a long time before he goes away again.

New Years Resolutions

Every year I make the same resolutions and every year, they last about a day. This year, I thought about not make any, but then I decided to make a few, make them do-able and try to stick with them. Here's what I decided:

1. To at least start Claire's baby scrapbook before I go back to work
2. Get back into a more balanced eating routine and make meal plans on a weekly basis
3. Try running again. I tried it once before and couldn't get the breathing down
4. Make a conscious effort to keep on top of the house cleaning, so that Blair's not doing it when he gets home from work

Potty Training

For the last 6 months or so, we have been trying to potty train our 2 1/2 year old son. Granted, we haven't done the "bootcamp" or been as vigilant as we could have and maybe should have been, but we also didn't want to force him and then have him go backwards and have to start all over again. Everyone has told us that he will eventually be trained and let him be.

Well, this whole letting him be thing is getting to me. Since Christmas, he hasn't had any interest in going to the potty, not even peeing in the potty. I have to say, that i am really, really, really tired of changing his dirty diapers. He used to tell us when he was going or had gone, but not now. I'm trying not to get upset with him and make him feel bad, but I'm really sick and tired of needing to make sure that I have not only diapers for my 9 month old daughter, but my 2 1/2 year old.

That is my vent for the day.